Dolphin
by LoveAnimeForever
Summary: ONESHOT - Iruka-centric - Naruto and Sasuke kill each other, leaving Iruka to drown in his sorrow save when he embraces his namesake and takes to the ocean. Dolphins belong in the sea. But humans belong in reality.


**Dolphin**

By LoveAnimeForever

* * *

I dive, headfirst and eager, into the water, my body transforming into a more suitable shape as I enter my haven. I am my namesake: my skin is smooth and slick; my form is sleek and streamlined. Twisting and arching against the caressing tide, I leap over the waves to form a crescent arc, framing the noontide sun. The sky is blue, tinted to a reflective shine by the bright rays of the sun, like a sapphire. The wind billows momentarily, chilling my skin as it ushers the cotton white clouds along their canvas, before I plunge back down into the cerulean depths, taking in the familiar but still breathtakingly beautiful underwater scenery.

It is comfortably cool, the currents calming and soothing my aching limbs, bearing my weight and parting for my form to pass, their gentle waves lapping against my submerged body. The harsh sunlight filters through the surface to dance, now only comfortable warmth, along my back and the seafloor. Said sandy base is covered with coral, seaweed and, darting around the colorful underwater forest, fishes, dancing their elaborate ballet as light flashes off their rainbow-dyed scales.

I hold myself still, breathing deeply as the past dissipates like the receding tide. My fears and worries are washed away with the current, allowing my heart out of its cage. I enjoy my security and freedom while it lasts – I let a contented click and chirrup escape the back of my throat. Here, I feel no pain and I remember no trauma; here, there is no enemy and there is no past; here, there is no death or loss and there is no betrayal or treachery. I move again, gliding through the water before leaping once more into the endless skies and sliding easily back under the surface.

I lose myself in the feeling of muscle and cartilage pumping me through the water and, thankfully, away from the shore – that tortuous hell – and it becomes nothing but a sliver of dull gold on the horizon. But the next jump I make spears an orange sun hung in bloody skies along with similarly tinted clouds and I know, too soon, it is time to return. I reluctantly turn my back to the beckoning depths and swim towards the shallow corals, the colorful ornaments lining the damned passageway back to land – that beautiful but dangerous wilderness.

As I beach on the shore, I release the technique that gave me my form and clamber awkwardly – I still feel as if I have flippers instead of feet – towards the rocks where I left my clothes. As I equip myself with weapons, I remember the hurt – the inescapable guilt that even the peaceful memorial grounds are unable to keep at bay; the throbbing pain that only the sea can destroy. I sit watching my pristine haven redden as if with blood – tainted like my hands – and the sun set as if weighed down by endless guilt – like my mind – and I sigh wistfully, wishing that my life were purer and simpler like the one of the ocean.

A broken Kakashi and an equally depressed Sakura sink down silently beside me at their usual places. We don't greet each other as they join my grieving vigil, watching the day end as our lives seem to be, and we reminisce about our phantoms. Sasuke and Naruto had died by each other's hand after they rid the world of the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. What had been severed could not be rethreaded and they turned on each other as they had so long ago. We found their corpses – Sasuke's ripped and Naruto's charred – in the woods. They looked peaceful, contrary to the pain their bodies must have numbed against, but they left us burdened with their misery and guilt. Memories swim around our heads as they whisper their cruel scenes to our unwilling ears.

"It's time to go back, 'Ruka." The scarecrow whispers sadly.

We take a minute that feels like eternity to compose ourselves and set our smiling masks, ready once more to face the pitying, concerned eyes that will meet us at the village gates.

"Come on, Iruka-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura calls energetically, but we can see her sorrow through her emerald orbs just as she can see fear in my russet eyes and bitterness in Kakashi's visible black-grey eye.

"Dolphins belong in the sea. Scarecrows belong in the field. Cherry blossoms belong on trees. Panthers and foxes belong in the forest. Why must we return?" I question quietly, my eyes brimming with warm, salty tears like drops of the sea.

"Because humans belong in reality, 'Ruka." His voice is gentle and comforting but his answer is hot acid, intended to burn through our cold, black loneliness.

"Reality." I echo emptily.

We trudge inland, following Sakura's falsely joyful aura towards the village. As we walk through the village gate, I read the words on the large wooden doors for the first time since what feels like a lifetime.

"Ninja", it booms in blood ink (it could have just been scarlet paint but nothing kept it from being blood so I believed the ghosts in my head) – to be strong and agile and ready to kill.

Dolphins are strong and agile too. Minus the killing. Which is why...

"'Ruka, the Hokage wants us!"

"Coming!"

* * *


End file.
